Merle Haggard Wondered if This Important Woman in His Life Was Even Real in Emotional 1998 Interview

Even without being able to ask Merle Haggard myself, I would assume that nothing in his life ever felt quite like the day he was released from San Quentin prison. Through the thrills of becoming a famous country singer, the awards, the travel, and the money, I would imagine these accolades all paled in comparison to getting out from under the shadow of the prison’s walls.

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He recounted that fateful day during an emotional appearance on Ralph Emery: On The Record in 1998. Steadying his breath before he started, Haggard looked up at Emery. He said, “When I walked out of San Quentin, I expected somebody to be there. And she wasn’t there. So, the 10:30 rush of walking through the gates of San Quentin. Just a matter of minutes. My heart was broke because she wasn’t there.”

“I had those two emotions going up and down,” Haggard continued. In those next few moments of emotional whiplash, the singer-songwriter said he had an encounter that, in hindsight, he feels could have been supernatural, not of this world, and in any case, deeply humanitarian.

Merle Haggard Was Met by a Stranger Outside of San Quentin Prison

Although Merle Haggard didn’t tell On The Record host Ralph Emery the name of the woman he expected to see waiting for him outside San Quentin, he was married to his first wife, Leona Hobbs, at the time. The pair had a daughter, Dana, when Haggard went to prison. Another child, a son they would name Marty, was on the way. He was a toddler by the time Haggard was released.

With no one to greet him on the day he became a free man again, Merle stood on the sidewalk for a moment. He contemplated what he might do with his newfound independence and fifteen dollars in his pocket. Then, he heard a voice.

“This beautiful female voice,” Haggard said, his eyes trailing off, as if he were replaying the memory in his head. “A kind voice.” The woman asked him if she could give him a ride somewhere. She was standing just outside the prison with her car door open, waiting on anyone who walked through those gates. Haggard continued, “She said, ‘I do this ‘cause I’m wealthy. My family and my husband would die if they knew what I did. I do this every Tuesday. I come and take convicts to the bus or someplace.’”

The woman told Haggard she never had a prisoner mistreat her or threaten to do so. She took him to the train depot, and from there, they parted ways and never saw each other again. “I sometimes wonder if she was real,” Haggard reflected. And indeed, that experience must have felt like an encounter with a real-life angel. But can you imagine how she must have felt the first time she saw the ex-con she once gave a ride to the train station on television?

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